The Molochs Interview: “Next time it’ll be even better.”

New album America’s Velvet Glory out January 13th via Innovative Leisure.

It’s not all that easy being in a band in 2016. It’s not like the good old days of big record sales and personal assistants. No, sir. In fact, things have gotten so tough that Lucas Fitzsimons named his band The Molochs after Moloch, the canaanite god associated with child sacrifice, because he knew how much he would have to give up for his passion.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a desperation to his music. A searching and yearning that screams of a soul that is continuously exploring and foraging for some existential peace. But such is the artist’s lot.

We spoke to the Molochs about how things have developed since their first album Forgetter Blues, New York, and the recording process for their latest LP, America’s Velvet Glory.

O: Lucas Fitzsimons (singer/songwriter with The Molochs) named the band the Molochs because he knew he’d have to make sacrifices to get what he needed. Has it been worth it so far?

The Molochs: Yes, definitely. Wouldn’t have done it any different.

O: The Molochs first album Forgetter Blues was released in 2013. Has your approach to writing and recording changed in any way this time around?

TM: I think the writing approach probably developed in some ways. after all it was a couple year’s difference between the making of each LP. I didn’t do anything too intentionally I don’t think, probably just reflected the different things I was listening to over the period of time. The recording changed because we did it somewhere different and with different equipment, there was no way that a different engineer and different studio wouldn’t have an impact on the sound. One thing is that we were able to have more elaborate overdubbing which seemed pretty good to do at the time.

O: One of the tracks on the new album is called ‘Charlie’s Lips’. Is Charlie a real person?

TM: It’s not a physically real person, but in a lot of other ways sure Charlie is pretty real.

O: When you name an album something like America’s Velvet Glory it seems somewhat like a statement album. Was this the intention? Where did the title come from?

TM: No it’s not really a statement of any kind. It can be taken that way I guess if people start picking it apart, but it’s just a pretty phrase to me. Thought it up one night and wrote it down, forgot about it, and found it the next day. I thought it sounded nice and wasn’t really like anything I had in mind to name the album, so it seemed right to do.

O: Another song on the album is called ‘New York’. Do you have an affinity towards the city?

TM: I’ve never been to New York but I think I’d like it. The song’s more about my own world that I live in, but for some reason I liked the idea of repeating ‘New York’ over and over, had a good ring to it. I wasn’t really interested in calling it Los Angeles.

O: Lucas described the sessions for the album as ‘effortless’. How did the ease of the sessions benefit the end result?

TM: Basically out of necessity to finish and not run out of money to pay for the recording–that’s the reason it just had to work. But we were all very motivated and engaged in the project so it made it easy for us to make it happen. Next time we’ll come back with even more knowledge of the studio and it’ll be that much better.

O: The album will come out on Innovative Leisure. What drew you to the label?

TM: They always seemed like the tasteful label around. They had a relatively small roster and it seemed like they made their decisions slowly and wisely. We thought our band needed that style of treatment and it would be a good relationship.

O: Any sage words of advice for our readers?

TM: Try to have a good time and don’t think too hard.

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Jamie Coughlan is the founder of Overblown. He talks a lot about himself and is totally pretentious. Terrible with personal finances. Loves beer gardens. He has written for the RTE Guide, A Music Blog, Yea?, The Thin Air, Gigwise, and is a contributor to The Tipping Point.

Overblown is all about subterreanean music. We aim to champion bands and record labels that we are passionate about and are overlooked and undervalued by the mainstream media machine, while still paying homage to the iconic bands and labels who laid and developed the groundwork for today’s emerging talent.